DoorDash, a restaurant delivery service, has launched in Fort Myers and Naples. The company delivers from a variety of restaurants, with or without their consent.

Google almost any restaurant in the Fort Myers or Naples areas, from fast food at Wendy's to fine dining at Society in Bell Tower Shops, and a link to order from DoorDash appears with the restaurant's address and website.

Since launching in Lee and Collier counties in late August, DoorDash, a San Francisco-based restaurant delivery service, has made its presence known — just, rather quietly.

"I don't know how long they'd been delivering our food," said Tim Yoa, chef-owner of Artisan Eatery in south Fort Myers.

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"I found out because someone called and asked to add a cake to an order she’d placed through DoorDash, and we were all like: What is DoorDash?"

It's a question shared by restaurateurs across the area and the state.

Since launching in June 2013, DoorDash has spread to markets throughout the U.S. and now to 60 cities in Florida. Unlike Bite Squad or Uber Eats, similar companies which partner with local restaurants and charge the restaurants for their delivery services, DoorDash, in some cases, operates much more secretively.

The service pulls menus and logos from restaurants' websites and Facebook pages, sometimes without their knowledge, and posts them to doordash.com and the DoorDash app. Customers place orders and pay through DoorDash. The company then calls the order into the restaurant and sends a company driver to pay for it, pick it up and deliver it.

DoorDash makes its money on delivery fees, which typically run about $5 per order in markets similar to Fort Myers and Naples, and by charging more for some menu items. DoorDash's fine print says the prices on its apps may vary from what is charged in-store.

The service does partner with some restaurants, including major chains such as Wendy's, Chipotle and Denny's, along with some locally owned restaurants. In those cases, DoorDash operates similar to Bite Squad, charging the restaurants for promotion and deliveries, in addition to the fees charged to customers.

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DoorDash delves into murky territory when it delivers on behalf of non-partner restaurants. Such was the case with Artisan Eatery, as well as Taverna Wood Fire Kitchen in Cape Coral.

"I never signed up for anything on DoorDash," Taverna's co-owner Kyle Turner said.

"We have signed up for Bite Squad. They show up in uniform, they look professional, we know when they're coming. DoorDash, they don’t have any uniforms at all. They have random people that come in, pick up the food and pay with a debit card like it was for them."

Turner said he is also unsure how long exactly DoorDash has been delivering his restaurant's food. He first figured out who and what the service was when the company called in a $100-plus takeout order last month.

"I asked for a credit card to put a deposit down and she explained she was with some DoorDash company," Turner said.

"I did it. I took a chance, and someone did come in and pick it up. Now I know the number, it shows up as DoorDash on our caller ID, so at least we know when it's them calling."

DoorDash is now delivering in the Fort Myers area.(Photo: Andrew Lydon)

Turner and Yoa said they haven't received any complaints regarding DoorDash deliveries. Nor do they have many complaints of their own.

Around the state, other restaurateurs haven't been so fortunate.

Darci Kropp, who owns Darci's Bacon Blues in Cape Canaveral, didn't know about DoorDash until she got angry calls from customers who had placed orders that were never delivered.

Like Yoa and Turner, Kropp had never entered into an agreement with DoorDash.

"I've had a number of restaurants contact me with the same complaints," said Terrance Buehler, an attorney in Chicago. "They suggest a relationship that isn't there."

Buehler represents a restaurant called Burger Antics. Its owners are worried that when DoorDash is used, the restaurants "lose control of the quality of the food and the timing of the delivery."

DoorDash issued a statement to USA TODAY's Florida Network saying: "For the majority of our merchants, being on DoorDash offers not only an additional influx of customers and revenue but also presents an additional marketing opportunity. For those not interested in being on DoorDash for any reason, we immediately remove them from the platform upon their request."

Kropp said she called the company and spoke with someone who was polite, helpful and promised to remove Darci's Bacon Blues from DoorDash, which it did.

On "Bite into SWFL," the Facebook foodie group managed by The News-Press and Naples Daily News, DoorDash users had mixed reviews for the service locally.

Liz Marquess said she placed a DoorDash lunch order last month. It was scheduled to be delivered at 12:53 p.m., but never arrived. She reached out to the restaurant, which said her order had been sitting for more than 30 minutes. She canceled the order but said her card was still charged. Marquess said it took two complaints before DoorDash issued a refund.

"I haven't ordered since," she said.

Pamela Gerber Murphy had no such issues. She said she used DoorDash three times in one week to help deal with a family illness.

"I only order from places very close to my home," Murphy noted. "Great service. All food hot or warm and delicious."

Restaurateurs such as Yoa and Turner said they'll stick with their unofficial DoorDash arrangements — for now.

It is, after all, free for them.

"I’m just looking at it as any other pickup order and that’s it," Yoa said.

"I’m getting full price for everything I sell, and so far no complaints. But it’s only going to take one complaint for us to cut ties. One bad review and I'd definitely cut it off.

"It's not worth damaging our reputation."

DoorDash is offering a promotional deal for new customers, with $1 deliveries for the first 30 days of service. Find more at doordash.com.